RACE REPORTS FOR OCTOBER 20, 2018

Josh Harrell swept Road Warriors for his third and fourth straight wins at Highland Rim last Saturday night.

The day dawned dark and misty, but being as this was Master Automotive Night at the Races the weather had to be Master-ful…and it was! The night’s events featured triple twins and a whole new division. It was to be a night filled with wild action, and it all began with…

ROAD WARRIORS
Josh Harrell and Thomas Meadows diced throughout the Road Warriors qualifier, with Harrell just holding on for the win. Jaclyn Barnett rode the high groove throughout to take third.

Road Warriors Qualifying Race Finish
1. Josh Harrell (411) 10 laps
2. Thomas Meadows (26) 10 laps
3. Jaclyn Barnett (17) 10 laps
4. Chris Zentz (77) 10 laps
5. Tony Vaughn (19) 10 laps

Josh Harrell does it again, working his way through the traffic to take the win in the first Road Warriors feature over Thomas Meadows, with Jaclyn Barnett third, Chris Zentz fourth, and Tony Vaughn fifth. As seems to be standard in this wild division, the pack more often than not ran three abreast throughout.

Road Warrior racing gets wilder all the time! They’re three wide off of turn two and down the backstretch!

Road Warriors Feature Race 1 Finish
1. Josh Harrell (411) 20 laps
2. Thomas Meadows (26) 20 laps
3. Jaclyn Barnett (17) 20 laps
4. Chris Zentz (77) 20 laps
5. Tony Vaughn (19) 20 laps

Second feature, same players…same winner. Josh Harrell continued his winning streak once again nipping Thomas Meadows for the hard-fought second feature win, with Vaughn, Zentz, Chambers, and Barnett not far behind. Needless to say, he carried home the overall win as well. Can anybody beat Harrell?

Road Warriors Feature Race 2 Finish
1. Josh Harrell (411) 20 laps
2. Thomas Meadows (26) 20 laps
3. Tony Vaughn (19) 20 laps
4. Chris Zentz (77) 20 laps
5. Tony Chambers (43) 20 laps

Jaclyn Barnett, Chris Zentz, and eventual winner Josh Harrell keep up the three-abreast racing, while Thomas Meadows, Tony Vaughn, and Tony Chambers look for a way past the melee.

Road Warriors Twin Features Overall Finish
1. Josh Harrell (411)
2. Thomas Meadows (26)
3. Tony Vaughn (19)
4. Chris Zentz (77)
5. Jaclyn Barnett (17)

PULL-A-PART PURE STOCKS
In the Pull-A-Part Pure Stock qually, Jeff Belt put a move on Carl Porter Sr on the last lap and took the win. Porter held on for second, with Donold Webb Jr third.

James Gentry Jr (right) continued to fight problems with the #48 but still came out of the night with the points lead in the Pull-A-Part Pure Stocks.

Pull-A-Part Pure Stocks Qualifiying Race Finish
1. Jeff Belt (55) 10 laps
2. Carl Porter (911) 10 laps
3. Donold Webb Jr (26) 10 laps
4. Terry Jackson (81) 10 laps
5. James Gentry Jr (48) 10 laps

Jeff Belt apparently ends up as the winner of a wreck-plagued first feature race for the Pull-A-Part Pure Stocks. In the first few laps Belt and Carl Porter Sr diced it up with Carl Porter Jr and Donold Webb Jr right there as well. Unfortunately it all went south on lap 5 when Webb tried an inside move off turn four resulting in heavy contact with Porter Jr and chaos ensued. Porter Jr gave the outside wall a frightening wallop nose-first, collecting Terry Jackson and Paul Ramsey in the process…but it wasn’t over with yet. On the ensuing restart you could see developing what eventually came to pass: the 911 of Carl Porter Sr and the 26 of Webb came together with the 26 smacking the turn 2 wall hard and both cars were instantly retired; Webb because of mechanical issues and Porter Sr as a DQ. Meanwhile, the 81X of Harrington was rolling into the pits leaving one car one the track. That’s right…one car, and it was the 55 of Belt. But wait! It’s still not over! Following the night’s action, the 55 of Belt was discovered to be underweight, and he was thus DQd for the event. That left the 81X of Harrington as the official winner of the feature, followed by Webb, Jackson, Ramsey and Choate…even though none of them had finished the race!

Carl Porter Jr collects Paul Ramsey after a wild wreck with Donold Webb Jr October 20.

Pull-A-Part Pure Stocks Feature Race 1 Finish
1. Derrick Harrington (81X)
2. Donold Webb Jr (26)
3. Terry Jackson (81)
4. Paul Ramsey (141)
5. Cameron Choate (82)

In race number two there were but five cars that took the green, with James Gentry behind the wheel of Cameron Choate’s 82, and Choate in the repaired 141 of Ramsey. Belt came across the line first in this one too, but again after it was all said and done, there was that post race inspection the found the 55 underweight, and that meant that Cameron Choate took a deserving win…though not in the car he started the night in! Overall though, Donold Webb Jr’s second and third were enough to add up to with the overall win over Harrington’s first and fourth, the best finish in the second feature being the tiebreaker.

The eventual winner, the 26 of Donold Webb Jr.

Pull-A-Part Pure Stocks Feature Race 2 Finish
1. Cameron Choate (141) 25 laps
2. James Gentry Jr (82) 25 laps
3. Donold Webb Jr (26)
4. Derrick Harrington (81X)

Pull-A-Part Pure Stocks Twin Features Overall Finish
1. Donold Webb Jr (26)
2. Derrick Harrington (81X)
3. Cameron Choate (82)
4. James Gentry (48)
5. Terry Jackson (81)

Seems Thomas Pannell had a cheering section in the grandstands Saturday night…

LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN
It was a terrific qualifier for the Sportsman, with Thomas Pannell bumping and grinding his way past Jonathan Dishman in the closing laps to take the win, with Dishman a disappointed second, and Dustin Arms third.

Late Model Sportsman Qualifying Race Finish
1. Thomas Pannell (8) 10 laps
2. Jonathan Dishman (67) 10 laps
3. Dustin Arms (3) 10 laps
4. Jonathan Wilhite (71) 10 laps
5. Tim Gay (1) 10 laps

Thomas Pannell (inside) grinds his way past Jonathan Dishman (middle) and Dustin Arms (outside) on his way to a sweep of the Sportsman events Saturday night.

In the first of the twin Sportsman features Thomas Pannell backed up his qually win but the 99 of Robert Cohron ran a solid race to take second, Dustin Arms grabbed third, with Jonathan Dishman fourth and Wayne White fifth. Tim Gay and Jonathan Wilhite had a scuffle in the closing laps which ended with Wilhite just avoiding backing into the inside wall.

Late Model Sportsman Feature Race 1 Finish
1. Thomas Pannell (8) 25 laps
2. Robert Cohron (99) 25 laps
3. Dustin Arms (3) 25 laps
4. Jonathan Dishman (67) 25 laps
5. Wayne White (00) 25 laps

Pannell made it a clean sweep of the night’s Sportsman events by taking the second feature over a resurgent Jay Jay Williams, with Arms again third, Dishman fourth, and Wayne White piloting Ricky Sanford’s 00 to fifth. In the overall workup, it was of course Pannell scoring the win, with Arms second, Williams third, Dishman fourth, and Robert Cohron fifth.

Late Model Sportsman Feature Race 2 Finish
1. Thomas Pannell (8) 25 laps
2. Jay Jay Williams (98) 25 laps
3. Dustin Arms (3) 25 laps
4. Tim Gay (1) 25 laps
5. Jonathan Dishman (67) 25 laps

Thomas Pannell made it a clean sweep in Late Model Sportsman.

Late Model Sportsman Twin Feature overall Finish
1. Thomas Pannell (8)
2. Dustin Arms (3)
3. Jay Jay Williams (98)
5. Jonathan Dishman (67)
5. Robert Cohron (99)

PRO 4 ASPHALT SERIES
In the Highland Rim debut of the Pro 4 Asphalt Series, 13 year old Blaine Akin worked his way through the field and took a dominant win in the qualifying race, with Corey Rowland in second and Rick Rowland.

Pro 4 Asphalt Series Qualifying Race Finish
1. Blaine Akin (44) 10 laps
2. Corey Rowland (51) 10 laps
3. Rick Rowland (82) 10 laps
4. Jaclyn Barnett (17) 10 laps
5. Craig Busick (45) 10 laps

Blaine Akin collects his checkered flag after taking the win in the debut of the Pro 4 Asphalt Series.

Young Blaine Akin did it again in the feature, but this time he had company out front, namely in the 51 of Corey Rowland who harried him the entire race. Rick Rowland was third, Jaclyn Barnett was fourth, and Craig Busick was fifth. The race was surprisingly entertaining, and it was great to hear the Pro 4 engines whining around the Highland Rim high banks.

Pro 4 Asphalt Series Feature Race Finish
1. Blaine Akin (44) 25 laps
2. Corey Rowland (51) 25 laps
3. Rick Rowland (82) 25 laps
4. Jaclyn Barnett (17) 25 laps
5. Craig Busick (45) 25 laps

Young Blaine Akin gets ready to tell Lanny Adams how it was last Saturday.

TUNERS
It was a light field that turned out for the Tuners, but they put on an exciting qualifying race nonetheless, with Donald Ayres just hanging on for the win over Justin Martin, and Chris Brown third.
Tuners Qualifying Race Finish
1. Donald Ayers (99) 10 laps
2. Justin Martin (711) 10 laps
3. Chris Brown (25) 10 laps

In the Tuners feature Justin Martin took the lead at the break and was never seriously challenged, though Chris Brown kept him honest throughout. Qually winner Ayers ended up third.

Tuners Feature Race Finish
1. Justin Martin (711) 20 laps
2. Chris Brown (25) 20 laps
3. Donald Ayers (99) 20 laps

Juston Martin and crew celebrate their win in Tuners Saturday night.

COMING OCTOBER 27…It’s TRUNK OR TREAT NIGHT! Bring all the kids and enjoy a full night of family-friendly racing excitement, Highland Rim Style! There’ll be 50 lap features for the lightning fast Pro Late Models and the Pull-A-Part Pure Stocks, along with action packed events for the Legends, the Baby Grands, and everyone’s favorites, the Road Warriors! Gates open at 2:30 PM, first race at 4…all this and more at Highland Rim Speedway, where Action is the Attraction!